The Chinese foreign ministry was authorized to release on Sunday the Position Paper of the Government of the People' s Republic of China on the Matter of Jurisdiction in the South China Sea Arbitration Initiated by the Republic of the Philippines.
The Chinese foreign ministry was authorized to release on Sunday a position paper of the government on the matter of jurisdiction in the South China Sea arbitration initiated by the Republic of the Philippines. The following is a translated version of the full text of the position paper:
ASEAN foreign ministers have endoresed a proposal by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh for the ASEAN-China Summit in November to issue an official statement on the start of negotiations over a Code of Conduct for the East Sea.
Vietnam is deeply concerned about China’s announcement of holding a military drill in the waters off the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin, the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, Le Thi Thu Hang, said on August 31.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) always supports the early approval of an effective and legally-binding Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), the Foreign Ministry’s Spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a regular press conference in Hanoi on August 3.
China’s construction and opening of a cinema on Phu Lam island in Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago violate Vietnam’s sovereignty over the archipelago, said Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang.
China, as a big country in the region and the world, needs to act responsibly and constructively in the maintenance of peace and stability in the region as well as in the East Sea on the basis of complying with international law, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang has said.
A Vietnamese representative has again stressed the important role of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as the Constitution of the seas and oceans which provides a comprehensive and sound legal framework for all activities carried out in the seas and oceans.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters 22 August 2013 that China is interested in protecting Cambodia from "outside" interests. Hor Namhong said ASEAN ministers should consider a closer relationship with China as they head into talks aimed at easing tensions over the South China Sea.
Vietnam has enough legal grounds and historical evidences to affirm its sovereignty over the Paracel Islands and legitimate rights to its waters.
A proposal for “joint patrols” between Indonesia and Australia in the eastern part of the South China Sea, which was raised in October 2016, became highly publicised just before President Joko Widodo’s visit to Australia in February 2017.
